Ice Age at Disney World – Is It Getting Chilly In Dinoland?

Brrrr, it’s cold in here, could we see Ice Age at Disney World? Now that’s a question. Rumors surrounding updates and expansion to Disney’s Animal Kingdom are running wild, from Simba setting up shop in Africa, to Lt. Hopps staking out Rafiki’s Planet Watch, and now Sid and Scrat are throwing their names in the hat as well. Sid and Scrat, who are they? We’re right there with you, we had to Google it as well. They’re the stars of the international hit Ice Age and the newest members of Disney’s extended family maybe 3rd or 4th cousins? We’ve got our snowshoes and parkas, let’s go brave these icy conditions!

Scrat and His Acorn

Ice Age at Disney World?

On March 5, 2019 Walt Disney World finalized its acquisition of 21st Century Fox and acquired all the associated content, which includes Ice Age. Reviewing the potential IP’s within the Fox family, the natural thought would be for a different animated series, the Simpsons. Besides the fact that the Simpsons may not fit with the family friendly entertainment Disney is known for, it’s also an IP owned and being used by that park up the street. For the next 31 years.

Out of right field comes Ice Age. Much to our surprise, the Ice Age franchise as been a worldwide success with the franchise earning $3+ billion at the box office. Add in the fact that Disney will be looking to make a return on their recent acquisition and that’s how we get to the potential of Ice Age at Disney World.

Passholder Insights: The Simpsons will be a key piece of the new Disney streaming service, Disney+, coming out on November 12, 2019. The IP rights for the Simpsons are only for the theme parks.

Dinosaur Attraction

Where Would Ice Age Go?

Rumors around the Animal Kingdom looking for a new IP for Dinoland have been circling for sometime. A majority of Disneyphiles see Indiana Jones as the most logical fit for the land. As we discussed in the our Indiana Jones article, retheming Dinosaur to the Indiana Jones attraction that resides in Disneyland is more complicated than we think. If only the roof was a few feet higher. Raise the roof!

Here comes Sid and Scrat. It’s pretty well known that Walt Disney World has been searching for ways to bring more kid friendly IPs to the Animal Kingdom. Recently, they’ve added he UP! characters to the bird show and a new Lion King themed dance party. With the global success of Ice Age and Walt Disney World being visited by guests from all over, having an area themed around Ice Age at Disney World would make sense.

According to Jim Hill, from Jim Hill Media, Disney Imagineering have been tossing around the idea of using Ice Age well before the acquisition was finalized. Don’t be surprised if we see something either at D23 in August, or further down the line.

Passholder Insights: Recently, Dinosaur has changed its operating hours. The attraction now opens at 10am and closes an hour before park closing.

Sid from Ice Age

Our Thoughts

Dinosaurs is one of our all time favorite rides at Animal Kingdom. We’ve had tons of great memories and pictures from the ride. DVC Duo fun fact: we once rode Dinosaur 7 times in a row. Could it be a record? Maybe! Retheming Dinoland to Ice Age would be a natural progression, as the meteors that knocked out the Dinosaurs were followed by an Ice Age. Some may call this poetic, we call it great storytelling. Additionally, it would be great to see what Imagineering could do with the rest of the land, Serena is hoping for something, anything, to replace Primeval Whirl. This a rumor that is definitely gaining traction and we wouldn’t be surprised to see Ice Age at Disney World. Time to go watch some movies!